The present invention relates to a flip-top cigarette packing machine.
Flip-top packs of cigarettes are generally formed on machines comprising a wrapping wheel designed to receive a first series of preformed groups of cigarettes, and a second series of flat planks, each of which is folded, on the wheel, about a respective group of cigarettes to produce a rigid pack with gummed mating portions, which is usually transferred from the wrapping wheel on to a drying conveyor. As the packs travel along the drying conveyor, the gum used to join the folded mating portions of the blanks dries to ensure firm shaping of the newly formed packs.
The wrapping wheel and drying conveyor are known to consist of a first and second substantially vertical conveyor wheel arranged perpendicularly tangent to each other. The first wheel, used for wrapping, is usually arranged substantially parallel to the longer longitudinal horizontal axis of the packing machine, while the second, used as a drying conveyor, is arranged crosswise in relation to said axis, and normally presents a stabilizing end conduit substantially parallel to said axis and extending outwards of the packing machine.
Despite providing for an extremely compact packing machine enabling full access to the component parts by the operator, the above configuration presents a number of drawbacks.
Firstly, being arranged substantially vertically, and perpendicularly tangent to each other, the two wheels must be mounted with their rotation axes substantially horizontal and coplanar to each other. Also, being mounted at operator level over the same base, both wheels must present substantially the same diameters.
Consequently, the stabilizing conduit, though arranged facing the upper peripheral portion of the second wheel, extends outwards of the packing machine at such a low level that expensive, cumbersome lifting devices are required for connecting it to the overhead pack conveyors normally featured in the system.
Secondly, the height of the stabilizing conduit is usually such as to prevent operators and trucks from circulating freely between the packing and processing lines at the plant.